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6 New Restaurants Opening at UCSD

The University of California San Diego is adding a heapful of restaurant options to San Diego’s already robust food and beverage scene.

In 2021, UC San Diego, at 1,150 acres and located in La Jolla, will open six new eateries in its North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood, formerly a parking lot and now home to Sixth College. This includes: Blue Bowl, a create your own superfood concept; Copa Vida, a specialty coffee, tea and food company; Fan-Fan, a Chinese and Asian fusion food place; Plant Power, a plant-based fast food spot; Showa Ramen; and Tahini, a Middle Eastern street food restaurant.

The goal, according to Jeff Graham, UC San Diego’s executive director of real estate, is to not only make the campus more inviting for the students, but a complete food destination for the rest of the community.

Live, Learn, Play

“The growth of the campus student population is only part of the expansion, as we are investing in more retail on campus,” he said. “The other part is the chancellor’s (Pradeep Khosla) vision to create a live, learn and play environment on campus as well as a campus that is inviting to the surrounding community. We not only want to create an amazing experience on campus while students are here for four or five years, but also want to have more reasons for the community to come to campus.”

Although UCSD had over 30 proposed tenants that submitted letters of intent, Graham said the university wanted to create a curated food and beverage space made up of local operators offering unique dining experiences and authentic, culturally diverse options. This is why no national fast food chains were selected, he said.

Founded in 2015, Plant Power is headquartered in San Diego and has seven locations. Blue Bowl was started in farmers’ markets by two UC San Diego undergrads and has multiple locations in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Fan-Fan is sister restaurant of Taste of Hunan, headquartered in Scripps Ranch and led by UC San Diego Rady School MBA alumnus.

Tahini was voted one of Yelp’s Top 100 restaurants in San Diego in 2019. Showa Hospitality, behind Showa Ramen, is also responsible for The Taco Stand and Himitsu Sushi, both in S.D.

“Students eat at dining halls three days a week if they have a dining card. But other than that, they like to go out and experience what local San Diego places have to offer,” he said. “Instead of grabbing an Uber to get authentic Asian cuisine or go to North Park to get the coolest new tacos or ramen, they have that right here on campus. Now they don’t have to worry about traveling long distances.”

Arts and Cultural Events

The restaurants are slated to open first quarter of 2021, between January and March, said Graham. In addition to expanding on the food front, UC San Diego is creating more art and cultural events on campus down the line, said Graham, to further entice locals.

UC San Diego currently has about 46 third-party retail operators on campus, said Graham, most of which are food and beverage places. With the addition of the six restaurants, UC San Diego will have about 100,000 square feet of third-party retail now, he said. 

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